Scientists have been dreaming about such an instrument as far back as the 1990s

Published Aug 18, 2019 at 4:56 PM

Receive the latest national-international updates in your inbox

Astronomers Alan Stockton, center, holding a sign saying "Built It!," and Alan Tokunaga, left, join a rally in support of the Thirty Meter Telescope outside the Hawaii State Capitol in Honolulu on Thursday, July 25, 2019. Supporters said the giant telescope planned for Hawaii's tallest mountain will enhance humanity's knowledge of the universe and bring quality, high-paying jobs, as protesters blocked construction for a second week.

A colossal telescope with the potential to revolutionize astronomy and reveal extraterrestrial life is set for construction atop a dormant volcano on Hawaii's Big Island, NBC News reports.

But protesters have blocked the road to the summit since July, saying the planned telescope — called the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) for the diameter of its huge light-collecting mirror — would desecrate a place that Native Hawaiians deem sacred.

The impasse comes at a crucial moment for astronomers, who have maxed out the abilities of existing ground-based telescopes like Hawaii's Keck Observatory and the Gran Telescopio Canarias in the Canary Islands. Big as they are, existing telescopes' comparatively puny mirrors limit their ability to scan light from planets orbiting stars beyond our solar system; astronomers believe these exoplanets hold the answer to the question of whether life on Earth has company elsewhere in the cosmos.